Gandalf
Yoda
Indiana
Neo
Bond
Mentioned already
Will Kane - High Noon
Rick Blaine - Casablanca
Westley - Princess Bride (and another nod to Inigo Montoya)
Ripley - Alien, Aliens
Not Mentioned…
Luke Jackson - Cool Hand Luke
You just can’t kill his spirit.
I like Atticus at #1, I’ve seen the movie twice and read the book twice. Atticus is wonderfully portrayed by Gregory Peck, and he’s a great character as a hero.
I like the Captain (I forget his last name…the one played by Tom Hanks) from Saving Private Ryan. Others on my list would be Jules Winfield from Pulp Fiction, Woodward and Bernstein from All the President’s Men (in my opinion, one of the best stories ever told), and Giovanni Ribisi’s character (the protagonist) from Boiler Room.
Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood, the quintessential swashbuckler
Atticus Finch
Indiana Jones
Han Solo
Louise Sawyer from Thelma and Louise.
Ect ect? Sounds like Jimmy Steward had a guest appearance in GhØstbusters or something.
And I can’t believe that no one has suggested Dr. Ellie “I am this close to biting your head off!” Arroway from the 1997 movie Contact as one of the great movie heroes. I mean, she takes on all of humanity’s short-sightedness and wins! Kinda.
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Rick From Casablanca - The classic tortured American hero.
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Sgt. York - I just love this movie.
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Jimmy Stewart in Its a Wonderful Life - Again I like my heroes to be flawed.
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Marge Gunderson from Fargo
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Luke Jackson from Cool Hand Luke
Damn how could I forget… I’m dropping my nomination for Will Kane and replacing it with
Max Rockatowsky (MAD MAX) Here is a character that sank to the very depths of hatred and revenge and over three pictures finds himself again and shows himself to be a hero (Albeit a reluctant one) And man can he drive!
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Indiana Jones - for reasons already made clear in this thread.
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Frodo Baggins - I’m surprised no-one’s put him on their list yet. A man of no great stature, no great strength, no great experience, no fighting skills, someone who just wants to sit around in the woods and eat, and he shoulders the responsibility of the entire world. That’s the stuff heroes are made of.
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Rick Blaine - I wish I could be like that. I really do.
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Luke Skywalker - I’m a warsie, 'nough said.
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Spider-Man - the very essence of “with power comes responsibility”.
Nah, he’s got a rabbit hair in his throat.
Hmm, this IS harder than doing the villains.
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Gandhi from, er, Gandhi: hey, he’s Gandhi, for pete’s sake.
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Max Rockatansky in The Road Warrior: “You want to get out of here? You talk to me.”
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Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark: he hates snakes and bugs, but to his credit, he doesn’t let that stop him.
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Superman: for managing to restrain himself from using his X-ray vision on babes in the street.
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Ripley from Alien and Aliens: layin’ the smackdown on acid-blooded nasties from one end of the galaxy to the other, at least until the steam went out of the franchise.
We don’t need another hero!
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Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark - an article on a website about screenwriting described it very well: he fails at just about everything in the movie, but he fails spectacularly.
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Sanjuro from Yojimbo - The whole movie is built around how much of a bad-ass Toshiro Mifune is. And it ends up being one of the best movies of all time. That’s how much of a bad-ass he is.
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Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs - a much more interesting character than Hannibal Lecter, IMO, because she’s completely believable. She’s dealing with sexism and “class-ism” on top of having to deal with a pair of serial killers. Jodie Foster’s best performance ever.
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Ripley from Alien and Aliens - not even the crappy 3rd and 4th movies in the series could lessen her character.
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Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China - he’s basically just a parody of the action-movie hero, but is more believable and a lot more interesting than any of the “genuine” heroes.
And I really wish the Wallace & Gromit movies had been feature length, so I could name Gromit.
Well I’ll put in some plugs for some obviously unpopular, but IMHO deservin’ heroes:
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Shaft: Cuz’ he’z a complicated maaaaannnnn, an’ only his woman kin underst-AAA-aaannnnd!!!
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Barbarella: She’s got a spaceship shaped like a pair of lips, burned out the orgazmatron! But most importantly, she makes climbing out of a spacesuit sexy.
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Animated John, Paul, George & Ringo: They saved Sgt. Pepperland from the Blue Meanies, and they know that All You Need Is Love!
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Buckaroo Bonzai: No matter where you post, there you are…posting.
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Godzilla: Also should be on the villain list, but hey, he whomped the asses of Mothra, Ghidra, Megalon, Mecha-Godzilla, and the Smog Monster. That’s a lot of saving the world for one guy in a rubber suit.
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Indiana Jones, of course
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Mad Max
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Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) from Jaws.
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Neo
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Nathaniel, “Hawkeye” from The Last of the Mohicans.
Atticus Finch? He was not even the best hero of To Kill a Mockingbird.
It is Boo, who overcame a severe case of social anxiety disorder to save the kids’ lives, and somehow not make that corny.
The other 4:
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Gladiator
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Lou Gherig
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The Tramp in City Lights
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Oskar Schindler
In no particular order, because I don’t know that I could rank them:
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<b>Ash</b> from the <i>Evil Dead</i> movies. He has great heroic quotes. Gimme some sugar, baby!
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Popular opinion is mine, as well. <b>Indiana Jones.</b>
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<b>James Bond.</b>
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<b>Yu Shu Lien.</b> OK, I had to look up the actual name on IMDB, but Michelle Yeoh’s character in <i>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon</i> kicks ass <i>and</i> has just about the most affecting love story I’ve ever seen.
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<b>Buckaroo Banzai</b> is the most well-rounded hero that I can possibly imagine. He’s a scientist, a race car driver, a rock star, a surgeon, and a comic book star. He appears to have his own militia, and he definitely has his own video game. The President himself seeks Buckaroo’s input on matters affecting the fate of the earth. Short of founding a major world religion, I’m not sure what more he could do to earn the title.
Oops! You would think those big buttons at the top of the posting screen would have reminded me not to screw up the formatting. Please, do not let my poor use of not-quite-brackets affect your perception of the fine characters on my list. I am sure Buckaroo Banzai would have posted flawlessly.
Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark
John McClane - Die Hard
Lone Starr - Spaceballs
Doc Holliday - Tombstone
Honey Roy Palmer - Diggstown
Although I’m satisfied with these now, I’ll probably have five different heroes in mind tomorrow morning. I can only seem to come up with heroes in action movies tonight, not sure why…it’s not even my favorite Genre.